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Tottenham Hotspur might have been hoping to get their transfer business done early this season, but they could be delayed in their pursuit of several targets by the Confederations Cup.

Given Tottenham Hotspur and Daniel Levy’s habit of leaving their transfer business to the very last minute, the Confederations Cup tournament this month might not normally be viewed as an obstacle to their attempts to reinforce the squad this summer.

However this year there have been indications that Spurs are looking to break their deadline-day habit, with Andre Villas-Boas indicating that it is important to get their transfer business done early in the summer to allow new players to bed into the squad. The lessons of the last two Premier League season, where slow starts have ended up costing Spurs a Champions League place, have no doubt played a part in this newfound urgency.

But several of their main targets this summer are in action in Brazil next month, and this will likely put a spanner in the works for Spurs, with teams hoping that fine performances in the Confederations Cup might add a few extra million onto their player’s price-tags.

This is true of the slew of young Brazilian players that Spurs are currently being linked with. As ever, Leandro Damiao is rumoured to top the list of their targets this summer, and Internacional are apparently ready to let the striker leave. Atletico Madrid and Napoli are also interested in Damiao, and the Brazilian club will probably try and delay any move until after the tournament in case Damiao can add to his already impressive reputation.

The same is true of Bernard and Fernando who are both rumoured to on Spurs’ wish list, with Bernard in particular likely to impress if given the chance this month. With his price tag already heading towards £20million, a couple of good performances might see Spurs priced out of the running in a bidding war.

Perhaps the most important delay could be to any more for David Villa, who has said that he is ignoring speculation about his future to focus on his role for Spain at the Confederations Cup. Without Champions League football, Spurs were always going to struggle to beat their rivals to Villa, and might have hoped that an early move was their best chance of bringing the striker to White Hart Lane but that now looks unlikely.

The tournament runs from the 15th to the 30th of June, by which time Spurs fans will already be getting restless if their side have not made any moves. It could well be another summer of frustrating delays for Tottenham Hotspur.

Nick Harris

I'm Nick Harris, Spurs fan and sports writer. Alongside HITC, I'm the founder, editor, writer, and fan of footballspirals.com and can be found on Twitter - @nicksharris. When I'm not watching sport I'm usually drinking coffee and checking updates on my phone in an antisocial manner.